Africa is not the only place on Earth to go on a safari, but it surely offers some of the best safari adventures around. Most of the African safari reserves have all the big five animals: the lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and buffalo. It’s now always easy to get photos of all on them on one safari, especially the nocturnal leopard. But these photographers did a great job of sharing with us the beautiful beasts they captured with their camera while on safari. So sit back and relax, let’s do some animal watching on this virtual safari. [40 Photos]

While on Safari in Africa, the photographer snapped a shot of this female leopard up in a tress and in heat. The male approached on the ground, but she “made an even louder racket and let out a loud bark at him.” So the male turned away and sauntered off. She jumped down and followed him. 😉 Photo #1 by Steve Jurvetson